Why Deep Engagement Leads to Successful Strategic Initiatives

Think about the last to-do list you made. 

Your list was probably filled with a combination of personal and work tasks, and both categories had items that varied in priority—tasks you can push to later, tasks that require a lot of time and energy, and tasks you can take care of in a couple of minutes.  

Without an indicator, like highlighting high-priority items, everything on your to-do list appeared equally important. Naturally, you looked at your list and started to identify important items by circling, highlighting, or starring to-dos that required the most time, energy, and focus, as well as items that needed to be completed ASAP. 

Having a way to identify the top priorities seems obvious. Yet, companies often struggle to separate items that require deep engagement from items that aren’t as pertinent or involved. 

For example, imagine you're outlining goals for the next quarter and creating tasks for each one in your company’s project management platform. One goal is to launch a new product and ramp up your sales organization. Another is a task to make sure everyone fills in their W-2 information before year-end. Both of these items take up the same screen real estate, but one is obviously far more important for the company's success. 

The issue lies in the emphasis. Sometimes, the tools that help us organize can actually de-emphasize and equalize tasks or initiatives that shouldn’t be held to the same level of importance. 

It’s crucial for leaders to separate and emphasize initiatives that require deep engagement from ones that can be covered tersely.  

Deep engagement is the sum total of understanding, discussion, and interaction that occurs when people are thoughtfully engaged with an initiative. It includes communication, context, feedback, inquiry, and refining process in order to achieve a successful implementation.

Let's look at one example of an initiative that requires deep engagement. A CEO needs to communicate a manufacturing strategy change to their VP. If the CEO failed to provide context for the manufacturing shift, the VP won't understand where the directive is coming from, why it's happening, how to measure success, and how to plan for changes, among other things. This absence of deep engagement will inevitably create roadblocks during, and after, the changes are implemented. 

However, with deep engagement—if the CEO were to provide context ahead of time—the VP can ask strategic questions and provide valuable feedback. In turn, the CEO can use feedback to refine the changeover process and prepare for different scenarios ahead of time.

This initiative requires discussion, but other tasks only need one-way communication, such as filling out a W-2. 

Taking time to think through initiatives, scenario-plan, discuss feedback internally, and execute starts with leadership. 

It’s pivotal that leaders ask themselves, "What does my team need to engage with an initiative?"

If leadership doesn't create opportunities for engagement throughout an initiative, companies will fail to execute as intended. As an executive, it’s crucial to make space for engagement at all levels and at each step of implementation. 

Of course, not all initiatives require the same level of engagement from each team, or even the same amount of engagement at each step. That is exactly why leadership needs to identify and communicate the areas for deep engagement for each initiative from the get-go.

It’s paramount leaders distinguish tasks that require deep engagement from tasks that don’t. 

For starters, most revenue-generating activities require deep engagement. 

When introducing a new product, leaders need to focus on clear communication with salespeople to ensure a successful launch. They must provide context around the launch, gather feedback before and during implementation, and talk with teams about customer success. 

Additionally, leaders need to engage with their teams on the internal processes that relate to an initiative because current strategies might look entirely different from past strategies. There might be a new way to manufacture products, market products, or deliver products to customers—all of which need to be covered before and during implementation.  

Initiatives that require deep engagement often ask employees to adapt to change. As a leader, it's essential to be cognizant of the changes that come from deep engagement and how those might affect your company and team. Change is difficult. If teams aren’t engaged, or lack the opportunities to engage, people can end up feeling lost or unsure of how to do their job effectively. They may even end up leaving the company. 

The more involvement you have from teams when discussing a strategic initiative, the more confidence people will have in leadership. As a result, this increases their ability to adapt to change.  

Good leaders have a way to track levels of engagement, especially during periods of change. 

Leaders can set teams up for success by outlining engagement and revision points to ensure everyone is on the same page. 

Start by choosing dates to evaluate what has changed and what needs to be tweaked going forward. Define not only when, but how, you’re going to gather feedback. One common pitfall is to assume information will be relayed to you along the way. Make a formal plan across all levels of the organization to check in and adjust processes based on feedback. 

For instance, if manufacturing changes are inevitable for a new initiative, set aside time on day 15 or day 45 for an open discussion with the manufacturing group. Then, analyze the feedback and data you’ve gathered to make better decisions at the 30-day or 60-day adjustment session. 

Be prepared to answer questions such as:

• Why are these changes in focus happening?

• How are we making revisions in each phase?

• How are we adjusting execution plans to make each step successful?

• Does my team understand how to adjust? 

Of course, not all change happens in one week or even one quarter. You may set aside time for open discussion at the 60-day mark and realize you don't have to adjust the current course of action. Still, it’s vital to have time blocked out for deep engagement and continue creating opportunities for engagement to have a full understanding of how an initiative is affecting change. 

A good leader will decide what to act on, when to act on it, and how to move forward together. 

Having good judgment is an essential skill for leaders, but certain tools can help leaders engage teams. 

Leaders need a way to share information and ensure employees are successfully executing an initiative. 

For instance, our team designed the platform to streamline deep engagement around an initiative and increase the chances of effective execution. The focus is to help break down an initiative into actionable elements. 

To do so, we work with companies to leverage the MindStrength platform to outline their objectives clearly, define a process for employees to follow, educate people at all levels to ensure success with the initiative. The goal is to measure the traction index of both teams and individuals to make sure all cogs in the wheel are functioning smoothly. 

Deep engagement is beneficial to both customers and employees. 

At the end of the day, companies exist to succeed for both parties.

If you're a leader today, you need to understand how to incentivize engagement around strategic initiatives. The impact of deep engagement can greatly affect the quality of work from an employee’s perspective, and ultimately, positively impact your business.

Akhil Kohli is the CEO and founder of MindStrength, the preeminent initiative execution platform for Fortune 500 and mid-size companies. MindStrength's Initiative Platform enables companies to execute against strategic initiatives at scale and with accountability at all levels of the organization.